Hometeam: Barry makes stops for Hudson Hawks

Mike Richard CORRESPONDENT

Published Thursday December 13, 2012 at 6:00 am

The sign outside the home of Hudson varsity goalie Shane Barry should read “The Puck Stops Here.” It doesn’t, but there’s every reason to monogram the phrase across the family welcome mat. That’s because four of the five members of the Barry clan have donned the equipment of a goaltender.

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/RICK CINCLAIR

Shane Barry was sharp in goal last March while anchoring Hudson’s march to a Division 3 state championship.

It doesn’t, but there’s every reason to monogram the phrase across the family welcome mat.

That’s because four of the five members of the Barry clan have donned the equipment of a goaltender.

Hockey followers throughout the state became well aware of the Hudson senior’s reputation as a standout netminder last season as he helped lead the Hawks to the school’s first state championship since 1977.

“He was definitely a key for us, along with good team defense,” Hudson coach Mike Nanartowich said. “Any good defense starts from the goalie out, and Shane is the type of kid who can pull that save out of nowhere, just because of the control of his body and his athletic ability. That’s one of the key factors that makes him so good.”

Perhaps another key goes back to his family lineage, in which nearly everyone in the household has served as goalie.

His father, James, was a goalie through his childhood, but his high school didn’t have a ice hockey team. He later joined several men’s leagues, and once Shane reached the age of 3, he was grabbing for his dad’s equipment.

“I first started skating when I was 3,” Shane recalled. “I skated twice and I was like, ’I just want to put the pads on.’ My dad got some pads and I put them on and ever since then I loved it.”

Shane’s sister, Sasha, is the varsity goaltender for the Hudson girls’ varsity team, while younger brother Steven is the goalie for the John F. Kennedy Middle School squad.

“My father set the bar and he set it pretty high, so we all just followed along in his footsteps,” Shane said.

The price tag for the position is also pretty high. Shane’s equipment alone runs about $3,500. The women’s equipment worn by Sasha is sized differently, while Steven’s is fitted for a middle school-aged player.

“That was a pretty huge chunk of change that the family has spent on goaltending equipment,” Shane noted. “It’s been an expensive hobby for all of us.”

And if the cost isn’t jarring enough for the parents, watching their children play goaltender has been quite nerve wracking.

“Oh yeah, they get pretty into it and they know how much pressure we have in the games,” Shane said. “They get us through it.”

Nothing could quite match last season, though, when Shane helped lead the Hawks to their third straight Central Mass. Division 3 championship with a 5-4 overtime win over Wachusett in the finals.

From there, they knocked off nemesis Longmeadow in the state semifinals, 3-1, and topped Medway, 5-1, for the state title at the TD Garden in Boston.

“It was breathtaking when I skated out on the Garden ice,” Barry said. “We really stepped up, that’s for sure. We had that a group of kids who played together and stuck together through the years and we all wound up on the same team. We knew we had to go out and do it.”

As a youngster, Shane played for the Iceman, a Boson-based travel team whose games included stops in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto. He also gained valuable guidance from goaltending coach Mike Buckley.

“I got to train with some of the best goalies in the nation like (Montreal Canadiens goaltender) Carey Price and (former Boston College and present Vancouver goaltender) Cory Schneider,” Shane said. ”Ever since I trained with Carey Price I’ve been been astonished with how good he is mechanically in the net.”

Nanartowich believes that Shane has the mechanics to take his game to the next level.

“You look at goalies who have good position almost like a robot; they’re always in good position, they’re always on good angles, good shots have to beat them,” the coach said. “Shane is that, plus he’s athletic. He’s one of those kids who can get post to post. Shane has the intangible of being a very good athlete, as well.”